


Honor is Stored in the Hair(pin)

by echoicdreamscape



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Rise of Kyoshi, The Shadow of Kyoshi
Genre: F/F, Rangi mentions the Sei'naka symbol earlier than in canon, miss me with that m-shit-they're underage, my headcanons about the meaning of Rangi's hairpin, not completely canon-compliant, oh there's some t-rated making out too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:40:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29322579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoicdreamscape/pseuds/echoicdreamscape
Summary: "I thought only family and serious partners were supposed to touch your hair,” Kyoshi teases, gently poking her partner in the chest.Although she’s almost an entire foot shorter, Rangi stares her down. “What do you think you are to me?” she says with a frown before walking away.A short exploration of the significance of Rangi's hairpin and hair.
Relationships: Kyoshi/Rangi (Avatar)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 156





	Honor is Stored in the Hair(pin)

Kyoshi muffles a groan as Rangi kisses her senseless, her hands carding through her hair and then down her back. They had snuck away leaving their armor behind during Kirima’s campfire Pai Sho game against Wong, trying to ignore the waterbender’s smirk as she placed another tile. The shorter girl doesn’t slow her relentless assault as she presses even closer and shifts fully into Kyoshi’s lap. Kyoshi doesn’t know how she can manage to keep up, but she’s not complaining. She moves her hands from Rangi’s cheeks to sift through the firebender’s silky hair. She feels Rangi’s smile before her head swims and she’s once again lost to all the sensations.

She finds her hands mindlessly tugging at Rangi’s hair, drawing a deep noise from Rangi’s chest. Rangi moves her lips to Kyoshi’s jaw as Kyoshi slides her fingers backwards and traces Rangi’s head with her hands to the back, where her topknot sits proudly. As she has done many times before, she feels a brief prick of pain when she accidentally pokes herself on Rangi’s hairpin. With a noise of dissatisfaction, she removes the pin from Rangi’s hair and sets it carefully aside onto a small platform she earthbends up.

Rangi pauses from where she had been mouthing down Kyoshi’s neck and draws back. Uh oh. Kyoshi bites her lip and chooses to delay the inevitable, making eye contact with her partner.

“That was a very intimate gesture, you know,” Rangi whispers breathlessly. The firebender’s bronze eyes are filled with desire; Kyoshi has never dared to touch her hairpin on purpose before.

Kyoshi scrunches her face in confusion. “Intimate gesture? We slept together the very same night we first kissed!” 

Rangi looks thoughtful. “True,” she acknowledges before she pushes Kyoshi down onto her back.

Later, as Rangi rests on her favorite place-her chest-while Kyoshi strokes her loose hair, Kyoshi asks something she has been wondering for a while. “What’s the significance of your hairpin?” The golden, pointy object has long been an obstacle to comfortable displays of affection with her partner. She’s lost count of the times she’s poked her face, head, hands, and once almost her eye on it. 

Rangi traces one of the marks she’s left low on Kyoshi’s chest before pulling the taller girl’s robes fully closed and giving her chest a pat. _”You have to leave them somewhere the others can’t see!” Kyoshi had despairingly whispered, both their faces flushed with embarrassment after Lek had pointed out a mark (more like shouted for the entire group to see) on Kyoshi’s neck a week ago._ She can’t wait until she learns how to heal-though probably not from Kirima if she wants to ensure no traces are left. Then, they won’t have to hold back anymore. Probably not what waterbending was intended for, but she can’t bother to care.

Rangi rolls off of Kyoshi and sits up so she can grab her nearby hairpin. Kyoshi immediately misses her weight and warmth and shifts onto her side, facing her partner. To her dismay, Rangi doesn’t cuddle back into her and instead pulls at Kyoshi’s hand so she’s also sitting. The sounds of cicadas chirp around them and a warm summer breeze wistfully blows by. 

“This hairpin is another representation of my honor. You have an idea how important hair is to Fire Nationals.” Kyoshi nods. The firebender holds the pin closer to Kyoshi’s eyes. “This side is the symbol of the Fire Nation.” She turns it over. “On the back is the whetstone of my clan.” Kyoshi focuses her eyes on the small square-shaped symbol. “I carry this honor of my country and my clan wherever I go.”

“So when I…?” Kyoshi trails off, simultaneously wanting and not wanting a response.

“This hairpin was bequeathed to me when I learned how to firebend. That is when a Sei’naka first earns their honor. Our Sei’naka metalworker makes all of our head accessories, including this.” Rangi’s eyes gleam with pride. Sometimes Kyoshi imagines sparks dancing in her partner’s bronze eyes, and now is no different. Then Rangi looks down at her hairpin and if Kyoshi didn’t know better in the dim moonlight, she’d say a slight blush appears on her cheeks. “Traditionally, only family members and spouses can touch it.”

Kyoshi’s eyes go wide. Of course she would violate something so sacred. “Should I not-should I never-“ she stammers.

Her partner carefully draws her hair back into its topknot and slides the hairpin back in. “You know you can touch me wherever you want, Kyoshi,” she states simply. “Now, let’s head back to the others before they come searching for us.” 

Kyoshi allows Rangi to pull her up and they begin their trek back to the campsite. Kyoshi playfully swings their interlocked hands up and down as she thinks back to the times she’s touched Rangi’s head. Her partner has such soft hair. Even though she’s a soldier who’s used to dirt, grime, and not washing for days on end, she takes care to wash her hair almost daily if she gets the chance. Kyoshi would bet the habit has to be honor-related. But…hair…honor…wait…Rangi doesn’t seem to notice the maelstrom of her thoughts. A question-no, a realization-comes to her mind.

“Wait…what about that time on the iceberg…?” She remembers a crying Rangi snuggling into her chest, brushing her hair against her lips. She remembers the shock she felt and the other feelings in her chest as the she held the firebender the entire night, unable to sleep for more than an hour. Wasn’t that also a breach of her honor? A too-intimate moment? One that Rangi herself initiated?

Rangi stares determinedly ahead, avoiding eye contact. “What about it?” she replies almost gruffly.

Kyoshi pulls on her hand until she stops walking. “I thought only family and serious partners were supposed to touch your hair,” she teases, gently poking her partner in the chest. 

Although she’s almost an entire foot shorter, Rangi stares her down. “What do you think you are to me?” she says with a frown before walking away.

Kyoshi feels like she’s been slammed by a komodo rhino. This is the first time Rangi has said something so direct to her about their relationship. She notices that she’s still standing in place while the other girl has already marched ten paces ahead of her. “Wait, Rangi!” 

Rangi keeps her back turned toward Kyoshi but stops in her tracks. “It was a mistake,” she mutters quietly. “A stupid mistake I made before we were even together.” 

Kyoshi winces with regret about teasing Rangi like this and the embarrassment her partner must be feeling before carefully wrapping her arms around the shorter girl’s waist and bringing them flush together. She presses a kiss to the top of her head, carefully avoiding her hairpin. “I thought it was an accident,” she whispers. “I never thought you would like me-not like that.”

Rangi’s body begins to shake with small trembles. “You have no idea how long I wished for your affection,” she whispers back so quietly her voice is nearly lost on the breeze. She turns in Kyoshi’s arms and buries her head in her chest. “I thought I was dying of such want.”

“When did you know?” Kyoshi rubs Rangi’s back with one hand and brings the other to the back of her head. She kisses the top of Rangi’s head again, a habit she doesn’t think she’ll ever break. Rangi looks up at her with heartbreak in her eyes. 

“Do you remember when Aoma charged at me after I called her scum of the earth who wasn’t worth your time?” Kyoshi nods silently as she feels a sharp pain in her heart. Hearing Aoma’s name brings back old wounds. She thinks back to the girl she was back then, powerless in determination and bending. 

“You grabbed her by her throat and told her that if she ever even looked at me again, you’d burn her to a crisp,” Kyoshi replies seriously. She won’t ever forget that moment. It was the first time someone had defended her so directly, worthless as she was. 

Rangi brings up a hand to stroke her partner’s cheek and brings her index finger to trace her freckles. “So cute,” she whispers absently. Kyoshi was always told by Auntie Mui to cover her freckles since they were a detriment to her appearance. She only covered them when forced to, but had internalized that they were yet another reason she was unattractive. It wasn’t until she caught onto Rangi’s habit of stroking and kissing her freckles that she began to accept them.

The firebender continues. “I barely even noticed them running away. All I could see was the look on your face, like I was all you could see. I chased that look from then on.” Kyoshi smiles down at her. “That look,” Rangi murmurs before leaning up to kiss her softly before drawing back and taking her hands into her own.

“But it wasn’t just that. You were worried if I’d hurt her. Even though all she ever did was bully you, you were still worried about her. You, Kyoshi, who couldn’t even stand up for yourself. You, who thought you were nothing but still had an open heart for others.” Kyoshi feels her eyes start to tear up. “You’ve always been so considerate, so thoughtful.” Rangi smiles. “So gentle, even though you’re a giant.” 

“Hey!” Kyoshi gives her a playful smack on the rear. Rangi smirks before her expression softens. “And loyal to those you love. Endlessly loyal.”

“Just like you,” Kyoshi states simply. 

Rangi looks down at the ground and back up again. The tenderness in her eyes is the kind reserved for Kyoshi alone. “Let’s go back,” she says after the moment has passed.

They hold hands again and meander back to the campsite. The fire should be pretty low now since their only firebender has been gone for so long. Hopefully the group hasn’t gotten cold. As the moon rises higher, Kyoshi thinks to the future. _Family and serious partners._ She had known after that night in Hujiang that they had become serious partners. She wonders if one day, when she’s a part of Rangi’s family, whether she will be expected to wear a Sei’naka hairpin.

**Author's Note:**

> Love is stored in the Rangshi.


End file.
